Lewis Hamilton is “the last of the Mohicans” and remains the driver to beat, says his father, Anthony.
TheMercedesdriver is currently fighting to win his eighth World Championship, trailingMax Verstappenby 12 points with five rounds remaining of the season.
The Dutchman is over a decade younger than the Brit, as are many other drivers the 36-year-old has found himself battling this year, with three of the top six in the standings 24 or younger.
His father doesn’t know how much longer he’ll stick around for, and with most others his age retiring, sees him as the last of the Mohicans.
“I’m not sure [how long he will race] is the answer,” he toldtalkSPORT.
“As I always say to him if you feel fit, if you’re still enjoying driving the car, still love getting in it, then keep going and that’s what he loves, he loves driving the car, I suspect he’ll keep going.
“There’s still a quarter of the season to go, at the end of the day we’ll keep fighting until the very end, win or lose, it would have been a fantastic season, win or lose.
It’s not over!!pic.twitter.com/4RnG1an4RB
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton)October 25, 2021
“Being the elder in the series, whatever it is, are winners, because it’s very rare that you get to the age of 36, 37 years of age and still be able to compete at this level with drivers that are 10 years your junior, so for us every day is a championship win.
“Lewis is the last of the Mohicans if you think about it, he’s from the era of [Nico] Rosberg, [Robert] Kubica, [Heikki] Kovalainen and all those guys have gone but you’ve still got Lewis who’s still here, he is in the new era with all these new young drivers and still the driver to beat.
“There isn’t a huge amount of pressure on Lewis, but he’s competitive and every race that he competes in he wants to win, he’s going on 37 but going on 22.”
It hasn’t been the cleanest of battles between Hamilton and Verstappen this season, with the pair coming together in Great Britain and Italy, causing at least one of them to retire from the race on both occasions.
都有stated that the relationship between is fine though, and Hamilton Senior says the same thing.
“Lewis is where Max wants to be, Max is where Lewis wants to be, they’re like boxers going into the ring, but I guarantee that when it’s over and done there will be huge hugs and laughter and kisses between the pair of them,” he said.